ABT Met Season 2023

[volcanohunter]

2 hours ago, attitudebalance said:

I do wonder why, if ABT wanted a Wheeldon story ballet, they chose to take a risk on the very expensive LWFC. They could have imported Alice in Wonderland (popular with kids and families) or The Winter's Tale (Shakespeare adaptation, Wheeldon's most acclaimed/best work) - both at lower cost and both are already "known quantities" with track records of success. 

These were co-produced by the National Ballet of Canada, which possibly holds exclusive North American rights for a certain number of years, in exchange for footing half the bill. No doubt ABT saw that the NBoC managed to co-finance a couple of Wheeldon hits and decided to follow suit. Admittedly, Alice and Winter's Tale have more familiar source material, but ABT may have hoped that Like Water for Chocolate would attract new Hispanic, or specifically Mexican-American, audiences.

Edited June 18, 2023 by volcanohunter

[Papagena]

10 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

 Admittedly, Alice and Winter's Tale have more familiar source material, but ABT may have hoped that Like Water for Chocolate would attract new Hispanic, or specifically Mexican-American, audiences.

Pretty sure that was not much of a consideration  ... a white choreographer, composer, and (from what I can tell) not a single lead with Mexican heritage (although Cornejo + Carmago are Latin American). 

[stuben]

12 minutes ago, Papagena said:

Pretty sure that was not much of a consideration  ... a white choreographer, composer, and (from what I can tell) not a single lead with Mexican heritage (although Cornejo + Carmago are Latin American). 

I was thinking the same about the lack of a female Mexican/Hispanic lead, and Wheeldon's admittance that he didn't draw his choreography based on steps from the Mexican folk tradition, the story is a Mexican story, no?!

Along with this bit from Wheeldon's response in the Times article seems a bit patronizing IMHO, especially when it comes to the NYC audience, I hope with ballet companies from around the globe and with companies within NY, that audiences know what "ballet' is :

“People are sometimes afraid because they don’t know exactly what ballet is,” he said. “But maybe we can bring in new audiences because they think they’re going to get a theatrical and dynamic experience. Maybe they’ll be able to experience ballet through the art of storytelling, which is more accessible.”

[matilda]

Yeah I thought that part about being "accessible" sounded a little cringe. Like like target audience is too dumb to appreciate actual ballet. If that's what the company and creators are assuming, they're better off programming something that doesn't require a parental advisory about sexual content. 

The most popular ballets -- the ones that regularly draw mass audiences outside of the ballet connoisseur community -- like Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, and Romeo and Juliet, do tell stories but they are very much actual ballet. 

[MRR]

Wonder if Jaffe would consider presenting the Possokhov Anna Karenina that premiered at the Joffrey Ballet in 2019.  Their 2023 revival was the company's record grossing production outside of Nutcracker, despite swaths of protestors outside the Lyric Opera House before the first several performances (I attended two).  The production is projection and lighting heavy with lots of moving scenery but few big set pieces, perhaps not unlike LWFC.  Much of the choreography is difficult, particularly for the men.

If Corsaire and Bayadere are out of the rep, there need to be alternatives if ABT is really the "company of the story ballet."  It doesn't seem like Jane Eyre or Of Love and Rage got the reaction or attendance they wanted, and we'll know soon if that's the case for Like Water for Chocolate.

[Papagena]

1 hour ago, stuben said:

I was thinking the same about the lack of a female Mexican/Hispanic lead, and Wheeldon's admittance that he didn't draw his choreography based on steps from the Mexican folk tradition, the story is a Mexican story, no?!

Along with this bit from Wheeldon's response in the Times article seems a bit patronizing IMHO, especially when it comes to the NYC audience, I hope with ballet companies from around the globe and with companies within NY, that audiences know what "ballet' is :

“People are sometimes afraid because they don’t know exactly what ballet is,” he said. “But maybe we can bring in new audiences because they think they’re going to get a theatrical and dynamic experience. Maybe they’ll be able to experience ballet through the art of storytelling, which is more accessible.”

For me, Wheeldon's storytelling argument only really works for family-friendly works like Alice, Whipped Cream, and Nutcracker.

Does nobody in the ballet world understand that many new ballet goers buy tickets for Swan Lake and Giselle for the same reason new Met Opera goers see La Boheme? It's not the storytelling, it's the overall experience of people 'going to the ballet' and dressing up and experiencing something they've heard or seen in movies etc. These works live in the cultural imagination ... it's like going to Paris and waiting in line to see the Mona Lisa. 

Tapping into cultural relevance or assessing why something new is a 'must see' is extremely important. Not 'here's a story and theatrics that happens to be ballet.' I'm baffled by Wheeldon's comments here. 

LWFC has been billed as too sexy for kids and I wouldn't say it's been widely culturally relevant for a while (and they can't really talk about LatinX cultural relevance since few people who worked or starred in it are actually Mexican or Central American). Of Love and Rage was anti-culturally relevant, I saw very little reason to pour tons of money into a production like that. 

Side Note: 'cultural relevance' does not need to mean throwing away classical ballet technique or heritage works, nor does it simply mean commissioning pop stars to do the music. A one-act classical/neoclassical adaptation of 'Giovanni's Room' might drum up more public interest than LWFC, because James Baldwin is eternally relevant and is still on everyone 'must read' list (also, put Calvin Royal III in the lead and take my money!). A production like that would also be WAY less expensive (outside of book rights ... I admit I have no idea how that works). 

[cobweb]

12 minutes ago, Papagena said:

A one-act classical/neoclassical adaptation of 'Giovanni's Room' might drum up more public interest than LWFC, because James Baldwin is eternally relevant and is still on everyone 'must read' list (also, put Calvin Royal III in the lead and take my money!).

What a fascinating idea, Papagena! I would be very intrigued to see this. 

I'm out of town for the summer, so LWFC is moot, although I wouldn't be eager to see it anyway (unless it turns out to dazzle all my BA friends). The description of it as intensely storytelling, with little to no pure-dance sections, is a total turnoff to me. I like story ballets just fine, as long as there IS a lot of pure dance. IMHO, the main function of the plot of a story ballet is to provide plenty of pretexts for dancing -- wedding festivities, friends cavorting happily, forbidden lovers coming together, vengeful wisps in the woods, etc. If it's the other way around, where the dancing merely serves to advance the story, my interest flags. 

[bingham]

Crime and Punishment? Please hold that production until ABT is back on its feet. 

[angelica]

26 minutes ago, bingham said:

Crime and Punishment? Please hold that production until ABT is back on its feet. 

What an opportunity for a male principal dancer! Would love to see this when the time is right.

[NinaFan]

I read the LWFC article in the Times, and I can’t understand why anyone would have a problem with Wheeldon’s comments.  I certainly do not consider them to be patronizing and nowhere in the article does it say that the target audience is children.

I take his comments to mean that he is seeking out the Broadway crowd who may have had limited or no exposure to ballet.  He is not saying they are stupid.  The article clearly says “The hope is that it will attract new audiences, less familiar with ballet.”  I take that to mean that perhaps some theatergoers are willing to try a ballet that is more aligned with a Broadway musical.  

I didn’t know what ballet was until I started going to the ballet.  I do not count the fact that I took ballet briefly as a kid as I didn’t see a “real” ballet for years. 

I can’t tell you how many times I had to explain to friends what I was going to see.  Don Quixote?  How can that be a ballet?  Stravinsky Violin Concerto?  What’s that about?  About eight years ago, my cousin asked me if I was going to see the Black and White ballet.  As far as I know she has never seen a ballet, so I assume she saw the NYCB ad for the twelve magnificent Balanchine black and white leotard ballets they were performing that season.  She thought it was a particular ballet.  I set her straight. 

People who are not familiar with ballet usually know the names Nutcracker and Swan Lake, and often think that every ballet is a tutu ballet.  I remember treating a friend to a ballet a number of years ago and the reaction was what I had hoped.  It opened up a whole new world for someone who only attended Broadway and opera. 

And like Mr. Wheeldon, I hope LWFC brings in new audiences.  Ballet companies will not survive if the general masses only attend Nutcracker and Swan Lake.  

Edited June 18, 2023 by NinaFan

[Drew]

8 hours ago, NinaFan said:

And like Mr. Wheeldon, I hope LWFC brings in new audiences.  Ballet companies will not survive if the general masses only attend Nutcracker and Swan Lake.  

I also was not particularly bothered by Jaffe and Wheeldon's comments--"story ballet" (esp. full lengths) has not usually been my favorite genre for 20th and 21st century ballet, but ABT does need to differentiate itself from NYCB and "story ballet" is an obvious way to do so in a single phrase. (I know NYCB has some story ballets in its repertory. It's still not their calling card.)  Since Jaffe plans on reviving Etudes this fall, I'm not all that concerned she will be giving up on classical showpieces and the like.  Personally I would like the 19th-century classics to be a big part of her vision as well even if here and there tweaked along the lines of the Dutch National Ballet's traditional-but-tactful Raymonda. And I suspect they will be.

But to return to Wheeldon's comments: choreography that tries to make every part of a work cohere dramatically is a time-honored aesthetic in ballet--albeit one that has been hard to sustain. Wheeldon talks as if he were positioning himself as the heir of Noverre, Fokine, and Tudor. I'm speaking of his language and not his achievements--I haven't seen LWFC and reactions to it seem to vary a lot. I do appreciate that with Like Water for Chocolate, he is looking at a 20th-century Mexican novel for source material and bringing a fresh narrative to ballet. Concerns about cultural appropriation are not unreasonable but Esquivel's blessing for the project carries weight with me--and though I don't remember the article mentioning it, she has been involved in promoting the ballet in both the UK and here in the U.S.

There was a time New York could support two major companies even though both of them had ups and downs in the minds of fans and critics. If ABT is going through a transition--artistically and financially--then I can only hope they pull it off successfully and NY remains a home to two major companies. The alternative--a fate like that of New York City Opera--would be far more depressing to me than anything being talked about here. 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Drew

[On Pointe]

During the pandemic,  I was intrigued by the streaming of the ballet Broken Wings,  about the life of Frida Kahlo,  choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.  Perhaps not a perfect piece,  but to me it conveyed a strong Mexican sensibility,  even though the choreograpber is only half Latina  (and that half is Colombian,  a very different culture).  It was visually stunning,  although I wasn't moved by the score.  After setting ballets in cultures that are foreign to him,  maybe Wheeldon will choreograph a piece set in a cozy English village.  

As for a Giovanni's Room ballet,  in their brief Chicago run,  ABT presented Touché by Christopher Rudd,  a male pas de deux which seems to fit that bill.  Although he didn't dance it in Chicago,  Calvin Royal III did premier the piece.  I found it a bit boring and not that sexy,  but the audience reception was enthusiastic.  

[volcanohunter]

On 6/18/2023 at 9:58 PM, Drew said:

Concerns about cultural appropriation are not unreasonable but Esquivel's blessing for the project carries weight with me--and though I don't remember the article mentioning it, she has been involved in promoting the ballet in both the UK and here in the U.S.

Laura Esquivel participated in one of the Royal Ballet's Insights programs in the lead up to the ballet's premiere, so we can listen to exactly what she said then.

Anyone really interested can sign up for a free 14-day trial of ROH Stream and watch the complete ballet there.

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/like-water-for-chocolate-2022-digital

Edited June 21, 2023 by volcanohunter

[Olga]

It boggles the mind not only that LWFC is scheduled for so many performances but that ABT didn’t make sure streaming rights would commence only after the run. This imo is a problem on the business side, not the artistic. Nobody here wants ABT to disappear from New York. I think we are only wondering how they can make a better go of it. And sure I understand many people will not be deterred from attending a live performance (or multiple performances) by the stream but it speaks to classically poor management. 

[Roberta]

19 minutes ago, Olga said:

It boggles the mind not only that LWFC is scheduled for so many performances but that ABT didn’t make sure streaming rights would commence only after the run. This imo is a problem on the business side, not the artistic. Nobody here wants ABT to disappear from New York. I think we are only wondering how they can make a better go of it. And sure I understand many people will not be deterred from attending a live performance (or multiple performances) by the stream but it speaks to classically poor management. 

Also, the full DVD and Blu-Ray of the RB's LWFC can be purchased via Ebay, via the Movie Mars shop (and an Australian distributor):

LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE (ROYAL OPERA HOUSE) 809478013662 | eBay

[fondoffouettes]

Meanwhile, San Francisco Opera's El último sueño de Frida y Diego, whose run concludes next week, is a near sell-out. (Its creative team is also largely Latino.) There are Latin American stories that can have popular appeal, but I find the choice of Like Water for Chocolate a head-scratcher. When I hear that title, it evokes a 1990s suburban book club whose members enjoy engaging with an "exotic" culture and who find the novel's inclusion of recipes quaint and endearing. 

[canbelto]

28 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Meanwhile, San Francisco Opera's El último sueño de Frida y Diego, whose run concludes next week, is a near sell-out. (Its creative team is also largely Latino.) There are Latin American stories that can have popular appeal, but I find the choice of Like Water for Chocolate a head-scratcher. When I hear that title, it evokes a 1990s suburban book club whose members enjoy engaging with an "exotic" culture and who find the novel's inclusion of recipes quaint and endearing. 

It's based on a movie and a book of the same name.

[Helene]

"Like Water for Chocolate" was a continuation of the Magical Realism literary movement in Latin America.  It certainly centered women's experiences.  I enjoyed the recipes. (Like Ella Fitzgerald, I don't [really] cook, but thinking about how other people would make something gives me joy and endless entertainment.)  And it has all of the elements of a narrative ballet, if the plotlines are carefully chosen and the storytelling is clear.

It was a runaway hit in many languages when it was published and became first of a trilogy, and the film version broke box offices records at the time for a foreign language film in the US.  As I noted earlier, it was meant to be a Broadway show, but that seems to have been put on ice as a result of the pandemic.  (There were a number of big names involved, and getting their schedules to align might be challenging, but there was nothing I can find published to say that it was killed or sold.) The ballet and the show should have been mutually reinforcing, but that was not to be.

I'm looking forward to seeing the stream of El utimo sueno de Frida y Diego later this week, but there's room for both for me, anyway.  If I were in NYC, I wouldn't miss Like Water for Chocolate.

[matilda]

El último sueño de Frida y Diego has the major advantage of being about two very famous real-life people with icon status in and outside of the Latin American community. 

[WLH]

From an abtofficial sponsored Instagram post:

“Fireworks and “Giselle” make the perfect 4th of July. Buy one ticket, get one free and enjoy this classic ballet on Independence Day. Use code ABTFOURTH for 50% off select seats. Limit of 4 tickets per order. Subject to availability.” 
 

Is this Devon’s performance?

[matilda]

Yes that's the Bell/Teuscher Giselle.

I don't understand why they even program a matinee on July 4th. No matter the cast, I can't imagine spending that afternoon inside a dark theater and then leaving just as the pre-firework chaos is beginning. It would be more logical to stick that matinee on a Friday. 

I've thought for awhile that ABT should start doing Sunday matinees (perhaps instead of Monday nights on most weeks) now that the Met Opera is open on Sundays during their season. 

[abatt]

Just because the unions negotiated a deal with the Met Opera for Sunday opera performances does not necessarily mean that the same deal applies to  ABT.   

[nysusan]

2 hours ago, matilda said:

Yes that's the Bell/Teuscher Giselle.

LOL! That should be the Teuscher/Bell Giselle but you are right - it is most definitely the Bell/Teuscher Giselle!

Re: LWFC I am one of those people who were stumped at ABT giving it 2 weeks out of a 5 week season however I hope they do well with it. I love a lot of what Wheekdon has done and am looking forward to it.

[volcanohunter]

6 hours ago, Olga said:

It boggles the mind not only that LWFC is scheduled for so many performances but that ABT didn’t make sure streaming rights would commence only after the run. This imo is a problem on the business side, not the artistic. Nobody here wants ABT to disappear from New York. I think we are only wondering how they can make a better go of it. And sure I understand many people will not be deterred from attending a live performance (or multiple performances) by the stream but it speaks to classically poor management. 

The ROH Stream site actually emphasizes streams of productions that will be performed next season: "A taste of what's coming to our Covent Garden stage from September 2023" (Don Quixote, Rigoletto, The Dante Project, La Boheme, The Nutcracker, Andrea Chenier, Swan Lake, Tosca). Obviously, this is inherently impossible before a premiere. From the ROH point of view, better that people pay to watch regardless of how they watch. If a person lives in the vicinity of London and loves one of the streams, perhaps it encourages attendance of the live show. New Yorkers wary of an unknown property could watch the stream of Like Water for Chocolate and decide for themselves that yes, it's a good ballet and worth experiencing in person, especially to see what favorite ABT dancers make of the roles.

I have no idea how the streaming service affects attendance at the ROH. It is a relatively new enterprise.

[matilda]

23 minutes ago, nysusan said:

LOL! That should be the Teuscher/Bell Giselle but you are right - it is most definitely the Bell/Teuscher Giselle!

Ha! Freudian slip, I guess. In all fairness I do really like Teuscher although it is hard to picture her as Giselle. If the show weren't on July 4th, I might even try to catch that cast. Bell absolutely killed it as Albrecht in fall 2021.